The building materials store officially opened to the public during the National Day holiday.

However, before the opening, Liu Yong had been sourcing materials for his projects from the store.

During that period, Liu Tianquan wanted to win Liu Yong over and took care of the store’s business… If Liu Tianquan hadn’t introduced escort girls to Liu Yong or tried to manipulate contracts, he would have been considered quite generous as a business partner.

For these two reasons, the building materials store had business right from its opening. This industry naturally had a chain effect, and in early 1985, it wasn’t easy to find a building materials store in Pengcheng with such a comprehensive variety of products. ‘Anjia Building Materials’ opened on a large scale, with samples of various building materials on display. Whatever materials customers wanted, they could first look at the samples, decide on the quantity, pay a deposit, and receive their goods quickly.

The store hired articulate staff, including Bai Zhenzhu and Kang Wei. Regardless of what they did before, after so much training, both of them knew more about building materials than the average person… When customers reported their house dimensions, these two could calculate how many tiles were needed and even estimate the wastage.

Those who came to buy building materials might end up hiring Liu Yong’s ‘Yuan Hui’ for renovation. Liu Yong didn’t discriminate against small projects – he had handled million-yuan projects, but he would also take on jobs worth just a few thousand or even hundreds of yuan, never cutting corners regardless of size. This built his reputation.

In short, just as Xia Xiaolan had thought, the building materials store and the ‘Yuan Hui’ business promoted each other. Xia Xiaolan only knew about Pengcheng’s development in this era through hearsay, and she had underestimated the demand for building materials under the Special Economic Zone’s rapid development – building materials were truly profitable. Unlike a food stall selling corn pancakes where even the hungriest customer could only eat a few, nobody ever bought just a few tiles.

Each customer meant significant sales volume.

Xia Xiaolan looked through the accounts, “Our five partners invested a total of 200,000 yuan, and so far, the store’s total turnover is over 600,000?”

600,000 yuan would only cover a single family’s renovation costs in a first-tier city by 2017.

But in early 1985, for a building materials store to have a turnover of over 600,000 in four months was nothing short of terrifying.

Average monthly sales of over 100,000 yuan, daily turnover of thousands.

The profit margins in building materials sales were substantial, with some stores achieving over 60%. Xia Xiaolan felt the high-end building materials market wasn’t big enough yet, so she set a slightly lower profit target of 30-40% initially.

Calculating at 30%, sales of 645,000 yuan meant 190,000 yuan in profit.

This figure didn’t account for rent and labor costs… but even after deducting these, the profits were frighteningly high. After all, this 1,200-square-meter building at the entrance of the small commodities market only costs 3,500 yuan in annual rent.

The store employed seven salespeople with low base salaries, totaling just a few hundred yuan each month, but they earned commissions. Including Kang Wei and Bai Zhenzhu’s salaries, the store’s monthly expenditure in this area was around 5,000 yuan.

“After deducting labor, rent, and utilities, are you saying our store made 165,000 yuan in just three months of operation?”

This was truly a big surprise – even Xia Xiaolan hadn’t anticipated that Pengcheng’s building materials market would be so prosperous in late 1984 and early 1985! Of course, most people selling building materials only opened small shops, couldn’t invest 200,000 yuan initially, and couldn’t create such a large operation.

Liu Yong’s partnership had jumpstarted the store’s initial business.

Shao Guangrong’s partnership provided some premium supplies.

Bai Zhenzhu and Kang Wei were also very capable. Everyone working together, combined with choosing a good project that aligned with historical trends, led to making money in such a short time.

“Yes, I just finished calculating the accounts, and I can hardly believe it myself. We’ve settled all our suppliers’ payments, which will make it easier for us to source goods next year.”

It wasn’t possible to distribute all the profits, but at the current business scale, the store could make around 600,000 yuan in pure profit annually.

Bai Zhenzhu held a 25% stake, meaning she could earn 150,000 yuan a year!

She would focus her energy on the building materials store. Street vending had its limitations, but the building materials market showed no signs of hitting a ceiling yet.

The rapidly rising buildings in Pengcheng told Bai Zhenzhu that Xia Xiaolan had chosen the perfect industry with building materials.

Both Bai Zhenzhu and Kang Wei’s joy was evident on their faces, and Xia Xiaolan was also pleased: “I think business will be even better after the New Year. We can keep some money in the account and still give out small dividends. What do you two think?”

Neither Bai Zhenzhu nor Kang Wei needed these dividends for the New Year – Kang Wei had savings from his cigarette business, and Bai Zhenzhu had several street stalls earning money for her. But they both felt accomplished in making the building materials store prosperous and replied in unison: “Whatever you say!”

Following Xiaolan’s lead meant getting a share of the profits, a point both of them acknowledged.

But for Shao Guangrong, this dividend was critically important.

Comrade Shao Guangrong, as of early February 1985, owed Kang Wei over 30,000 yuan.

From renovating his house to his 20,000 yuan investment in the building materials store, everything was borrowed from Kang Wei.

Xia Xiaolan thought they might as well distribute an even 100,000 yuan in dividends. Young Shao held a 12% stake, meaning he would receive 12,000 yuan this time, allowing him to repay part of his debt to Kang Wei.

Over the phone, Shao Guangrong was delighted, “I’ll repay Kang 10,000 first and keep 2,000 for the New Year. Sister-in-law, thank you all for letting me invest!”

Though the investment money came from Kang Wei, and their childhood friendship went beyond mere thanks, he had no connection to Xia Xiaolan – if not for Zhou Cheng, why would Xia Xiaolan help him make money?

If all the year’s profits were distributed, Shao Guangrong could get 20,000 yuan, but Xia Xiaolan said they would only distribute a portion, and he had no objections.

After all, he wasn’t as good at business as Xia Xiaolan, or even Kang Wei, so he naturally chose to listen to the smarter people.

At year’s end, all work units were busy, except for people like Kang Wei who were retired. Shao Guangrong couldn’t get away from his work, but he didn’t need to come to Pengcheng anyway – he would only see 2,000 yuan in cash, with the rest going to repay Kang Wei.

Shao Guangrong figured that at the store’s current profit rate, he could clear his debt to Kang Wei in another six months.

Xia Xiaolan hadn’t expected the building materials store to generate dividends so quickly. This distribution meant she had recovered half of her investment capital, giving her 25,000 yuan to work with.

Should she renovate the courtyard at Shichahai, or use it to expand investments?

While Xia Xiaolan was still considering, Bai Zhenzhu was eager to speak up beside her.

“Sister Bai, you have something to say?”

Bai Zhenzhu pulled out two maps, one printed and one hand-drawn.

The printed one was Pengcheng’s map from 1980, the hand-drawn one from 1985… Comparing the two maps showed the Special Zone’s enormous changes.

“Xiaolan, look at these. We only occupy one market in Pengcheng, but there are so many blank areas waiting to be developed. Why let others make this money when we could be making it!”

Xia Xiaolan understood – Bai Zhenzhu wanted to open branch stores!